Bian Wenjin (c. 1356 – c. 1428) was an important court flower and bird painter of the early Ming Dynasty, active during the Yongle (1403–1424) to Xuande (1426–1435) periods. The painting style continues the tradition of the Northern Song Dynasty Huang Xiao (c. 903-965) painting school of heavy color, and integrates the southern Song Dynasty painting style.
"Three Friends and Hundred Birds" Sign: "Yongle Yumi (1413) Autumn july." Jing Zhao of longxi bian wrote a picture of three friends and a hundred birds at the Chang'an official residence." The ancients called the capital "Chang'an", indicating that this work was made in the capital Nanjing, which may have been a work that should be made. Pine, bamboo, plum and stone are the main structures, interspersed with nearly 100 birds, which are highly decorative. The pens for slope stones, plum stem silhouettes and wrinkles have been relatively loose, but the width is basically still a double hook filling method, showing a neat and beautiful appearance, in line with the taste of the court. Most of the court paintings of the Ming Dynasty have auspicious significance, and the pine, bamboo and plum in this work are "three friends of the cold year", symbolizing the hardy and unsquatted Zhijie, bamboo and "blessing" are harmonious, and the longevity of the pine table also has the meaning of congratulatory life. The number of birds painted is 97, but it is not up to 100 but is named after 100, which means that there are many riches and many, and 100 is an auspicious number, which is both made by the court and also has the meaning of "a hundred birds and a phoenix".
Another feature of "Three Friends and Hundred Birds" is that the author uses a more ecologically interesting arrangement to present it. First of all, the whole scenery has natural wild interest, such as a corner of the mountain forest and a flock of birds. In real nature, these many species of birds cannot appear at the same time, but whether they inhabit the ground or on the branches, they show their habits in the appropriate places and appear to be full of business. Standing in front of the painting, you can hear its sound coming and going. It can be seen that Bian Wenjin is very careful about ecological observation, and the seal says: "More knowledge than grass, trees, birds and beasts", which can confirm the intention of this painting.
The special feature of "Three Friends and Hundred Birds" is that the author uses ecological interest to arrange the picture. First of all, the whole scenery has a natural wild interest, such as a corner of the mountain forest and a flock of birds. In real nature, these many species of birds cannot appear at the same time, but whether they inhabit the ground or on the branches, they show their habits in the appropriate places and appear to be full of business. Standing in front of the painting, you can hear its sound coming and going. It shows that Bian Wenjin is very careful about ecological observation, and the seal says: "More knowledge of grass, trees, birds and beasts", which can confirm the intention of this painting.
Bian Wenjin is a representative figure of the flower and bird paintings of the court in the early Ming Dynasty, and the style of painting in the Patriarchal Northern Song Dynasty is also different in the same middle. Basically, in terms of layout, the Northern Song Dynasty attached importance to the level of front and back, expressing the sense of space, and the arrangement of Bian Wenjin adopted the method of cascading from bottom to top. In terms of pen and ink, the northern song dynasty uses delicate colors, warm and soft, and the side text is more beautiful; the pen of the Northern Song Dynasty is not lost in the details of the work, the penmanship should be born of things, and the pen used repeatedly has appeared in the border text, and the more relaxed pen fun of the Southern Song Dynasty Ma Yuan and Xia Jue has been added in addition to the work details.
This painting "Three Friends and Hundred Birds" best reflects the characteristics of his paintings. Nearly a hundred birds, flying and flying, standing and rising, jumping and jumping, or exposed or hidden, or far-sighted, or turning their heads to visit, or pecking or calling, or taking care of their feathers, or chasing and fighting, all have their own postures, without a repetition, and cannot be reached by those who do not have a high degree of observation ability and skill. And there are many kinds of birds, and biologists can call out their names one by one. The painting method of the bird not only inherits the tradition of the Southern Song Dynasty, but also catches up with the painting method of the five generations of Huang Xiao, after outlining and coloring, and then adding a hook, the color and ink are thicker than the Yellow Flute painting, but it is more elegant than the Southern Song Dynasty painting, from which you can see the atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty and The Style of the Bian clan itself. The same is true of the painting method of ShochikuMei, although the painting method comes from the Southern Song Dynasty, it is more rigorous, beautiful and neat than the Southern Song Dynasty painting. The painting method of the stone is more obviously from the Southern Song Dynasty, which is outlined with a hard pen and chopped with an axe, but it is not as exciting as the Southern Song Dynasty method.
In general, the style of Bian Jingzhao's painting is basically irrelevant to Yuan painting, but belongs to the southern song dynasty, but it is very different from the southern song, the southern song painting is concise, and the side painting is detailed, repeatedly increasing, not only the content of the picture increases, but also increases with the pen. Therefore, the image in the painting is more plump, but it lacks the sharp and vivid feeling of the Southern Song Dynasty. Secondly, the Southern Song Dynasty painting under the rapid brush, there is a fierce momentum, while the side painting is steady, therefore, his painting is more majestic and thick and rigorous, but it lacks the fierce emotions of the Southern Song Dynasty. This is not only the difference between side painting and Southern Song painting, but also the difference between the painting style of the early Ming Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty painting. In addition, the lines of the Southern Song Dynasty painters are hard and rigid, but the base has infinite power; the Ming people learned the paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty, the lines are hard but not rigid, the appearance is more condensed, and the base strength is insufficient. However, Bian Jingzhao is a very outstanding painter, his painting pen is still quite deep, and the shortcomings of insufficient base strength do not exist.